Frequently Asked Questions about CDM

No. Schools and districts shall assess students and evaluate artifacts based upon the same standards that are applied to students earning course credit in the traditional sense. The achievement levels required to earn CDM through a two-phase assessment already reflect a more rigorous expectation of students who want to earn credit in this manner than those of students who complete the course with the traditional seat time.

All students in North Carolina Public Schools for high school courses in grades 9-12 and high school courses offered in grades 6-8 in middle school.

No. Students may earn credit using CDM for as many courses as they wish and districts may not impose local limitations. However, students may only make one attempt per course. Students who are unsuccessful after one attempt must register for and complete the course in the traditional manner to receive credit.

No. CDM is only available for standard-level courses. CDM credits will be indicated on the transcript similar to a 'pass' adn therefore do not impact a student's grade point average. Once data becomes available long-term in this process, this may be revisited.

No. 

No. CPR is part of the Healthful Living requirement and NC State Board of Education policy specifically excludes CPR from CDM.

No. Charter Schools are not required to participate but may decide to offer students the opportunity to earn course credit by demonstrated mastery.

No. CDM is not a replacement for differentiated services to meet the learning needs of students. CDM is in fact a way to differentiate and personalize learning based on individual student needs of content replacement. CDM does not replace the typical accelerated pathways of learning compacted curriculum by groups of advanced students, which are quite common in many LEAs/PSUs.

State Board of Education (SBE) policy GCS-M-001 Course for Credit, Section 13, specifies required parameters. Additionally, NCDPI has developed Guidelines and a CDM Toolkit for LEAs/PSUs to use to develop and implement the local CDM process. As always, the SBE does want to respect an individual LEA's/PSU's context and needs, thus the CDM policy does allow local decisions among some components. The guidelines specify additional requirements of the policy as well as components that are under the oversight of a local school district/LEA/PSU.

This is a local decision. DPI recommends that LEAs/PSUs offer the CDM process for courses taught within the school district, even if they are not taught at all schools. It is not recommended that CDM be offered for courses not available within the local school district. Districts may consider partnerships with the NCVPS to consider whether they have staff expertise within the district to offer CDM for NCVPS courses available to students.

Yes, with the exception of specific courses excluded by SBE policy (work-based learning courses such as co-ops, internships and apprenticeships; courses that have a clinical setting as a requirement such as ProStart, Early Childhood Education I/II, and Nursing Fundamentals; Advanced Studies courses). For CTE courses, an industry credential may be accepted as the required artifact component. Students will be expected to complete the post-assessment, if one is available, or a teacher made exam if the state does not prove a post-assessment. If the student earns credit, the post-assessment score would be reported in the technical attainment performance measure.

Generally, students should replace the course with the next course in the sequence, i.e. a student using CDM to earn a Math I credit should schedule Math II in its place. High school students might also use CDM credit to create space in their schedule that can be filled with a community college course available through Career & College Promise (CCP) or other advanced course, such as AP or IB. The NC Virtual Public School (NCVPS) is also a source of courses for middle school and high school students who need to replace a course for which they have earned a CDM credit.

Yes. CDM credits work like traditional credits towards graduation. DPI recommends that early graduation decisions be made through deep discussion between families, students, and appropriate educational staff.

Yes. Students attempting to earn a CDM credit for a course with an EOC must take the EOC as the Phase 1 assessment component of the CDM attempt. If the attempt is successful, the score will be banked for appropriate use.

No. The CDM policy is being phased in beginning with students who wish to accelerate without enrolling in a course. The CDM Committee has already had discusssions about how to extend the policy to students enrolled in courses and students in a credit recovery situation. When the policy is extended to those students, the DPI guidance document will be updated to reflect guidelines applicable to those students.

Districts and schools may choose to require, as part of an artifact or as an additional requirement, student performance tasks that replicate these situations. For example, for world languages, the school may require a student to demonstrate conversational ability as part of earning the CDM credit as part of the Phase 2 assessment of the CDM process.

It depends. Each organization will handle CDM within its own parameters. Please see the CDM Guidelines for more information regarding external organizations.

CDM credits are awarded as a "pass" and will appear as such on the student's transcript. No course grade is received and the course is not included in the GPA calculation.

As of date, there are plans to ensure CDM will be apparent on the official transcript.

Yes. A student may earn CDM for all courses. If a student did earn CDM for all four courses through the multi-phase assessments, this indicates a clear need for a personalized learning plan. DPI would strongly recommend that the CDM team closely work with students/families and other educators, such as counselors and AIG staff, to ensure appropriate programming is in place for students with this high ability and long-term needs and implications are addressed.

For EOC courses, the EOC will be given during an early testing window to provide the information needed for the Phase 1 assessment. Because EOGs cannot be administered off-grade level, DPI recommends using the previous year's EOG as an indicator for Phase 1 assessment, but LEAs/PSUs may choose to add additional local examinations to determine foundational knowledge in the appropriate subject areas. For non-ECO/EOG courses, LEAs/PSUs will determine the appropriate examination to use. School districts may decide to aggregate all the tests in the district for a course and either choose one or build one for purposes of CDM. Districts may also decide that the school CDM team will determine the assessment to be used for CDM purposes. With the exception of EOC courses, DPI does not currently require all tests or exams to be the same for student purposes. The State Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction expect all teachers and principals to administer tests in a professional manner that adequately tests students on the relevant course standards.

No. CDM policy does not relieve schools, parents or students of the requirement that students attend school until age 16.

Yes. CDM may be used for any student who would benefit from earning CDM and is able to meet the requirements. CDM may support a pathway towards graduation that was not available before.

No. CDM should not replace current compacted pathways for groups of students. CDM should not be an additional requirement to determine who will work at a faster rate within the classroom. CDM is meant for individual students who need content replacement and subject acceleration clearly, without any learning of the content in the school setting.